‘Keep the Promise on AIDS’ March on Atlanta, Saturday, November 3rd

Advocates to Gather at Centennial Park to Rally & March on November 3rd
at 1:00 pm; Marchers Will Call for Funding and Support to Fight HIV/AIDS
in the South, Where Half of the U.S.'s New Infections Occur

R&B Singer Monica and Ebony Steele of the "Rickey Smiley Morning
Show" Will Host a Rally Immediately Following the March at the Georgia
Road Freight Depot, with Performances by Gospel Singer James Fortune and
Tray Chaney of HBO's "The Wire"

November 02, 2012 11:27 AM Eastern Daylight Time

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hundreds of advocates and community leaders are expected to participate
in the “Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS” March and Rally this
Saturday, November 3, 2012 beginning at 1:00 pm in Centennial Park. The
event—the second in a series calling on officials to commit to stopping
AIDS—will feature a performance by celebrated gospel singer James
Fortune. Joining him onstage will be actor and rapper Tray Chaney
of HBO's "The Wire," with a new song about accepting
others and putting an end to bullying. Other local advocates and leaders
participating include Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA, 4th
district) and Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
R&B singer Monica and Ebony Steele of the "Rickey
Smiley Morning Show" will serve as hosts.

Created by AIDS
Healthcare Foundation, the “Keep the Promise” campaign brings
together like-minded supporters to advocate for testing and treatment
all over the world in the communities that need it most. The Atlanta
event will highlight the crucial health care, funding, and policy needs
in the hard-hit Southern U.S.—now the nation's epicenter of HIV/AIDS.

WHAT:

“Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS” MARCH & RALLY

WHEN:

November 3, 2012 @ 1:00 PM

STARTS FROM:

CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PARK, downtown Atlanta

B-ROLL:

Starting at 12 noon, 565 AIDS advocates, patients, family
and friends will arrive in Atlanta for the March & Rally on
buses and trains from throughout the South

A procession of community representatives carrying state
flags from each of the 12 southern states represented in the
March

CONTACT:

Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director, (323) 791-5526

This second "Keep the Promise" march follows the inaugural "Keep the
Promise" March on Washington in July of this year, when a coalition of
1,432 organizations from 103 countries came together before the XIX
International AIDS Conference to call for more global HIV/AIDS funding.
The Atlanta march will serve as a clarion call to better address
HIV/AIDS in the South, through funding, health care reform, prevention
and care in rural areas, and affordable housing for people living with
HIV/AIDS. Each Southern state will be represented at the rally by a flag
and a flagbearer sharing a fact or personal story about the impact of
HIV/AIDS in that state. The next "Keep the Promise" march will be in New
York City on World AIDS Day (December 1).

"Atlanta is an ideal place to send the message that this country's
struggle against AIDS isn't over," said Terri Ford, AIDS
Healthcare Foundation's Senior Director of Global Policy and Advocacy
and the lead organizer of the march. "The South has the highest rate of
new HIV infections and the highest rate of deaths due to AIDS in the
country: people aren't finding out their HIV status due to stigma around
testing; they are paying exorbitant prices for drugs they need to
survive. That's simply unacceptable. We need to follow through on our
commitment to providing access to prevention and treatment to everyone,
everywhere."

"This rally sends a message to national, state, and local officials to
‘Keep the Promise’ to create an AIDS free generation. In order to get to
zero new infections, there must be mobilized efforts like this one to
demand access to treatment and medication; create safe environments for
HIV positive people to disclose their status; and funding to ensure
equity in HIV prevention, treatment, and care services for all people
living with HIV, particularly people of color, who represent nearly half
of all NEW infections,” said Leisha McKinley-Beach, Director
of Technical Assistance and Stakeholder Engagement the Black AIDS
Institute. “The question is no longer can we end the AIDS
epidemic, but will we end the AIDS epidemic?”

This march seeks to bring attention to the need for testing and care in
underserved areas. While the federal government has recently delivered
funds to eliminate waiting lists for the state AIDS Drug Assistance
Programs, HIV/AIDS care providers are still dealing with the fallout of
that denied access.

As part of the rally, a procession of community representatives carrying
state flags from each of the twelve southern states participating in the
March will occur at the Rally at Freight Depot. The states represented
include: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas.

"This march, just three days before the elections, is a great
opportunity for advocates and organizations to remind their
representatives that we're watching them on AIDS funding and care," said Michael
Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Prevention and
treatment aren't optional. They can't be cut or rolled back. Elected
officials need to show that they understand the urgency of the need
here, or voters will hold them accountable."

AIDS Healthcare Foundation is among those providing HIV/AIDS care and
prevention services in the greater Atlanta area, at the Magic Johnson
Healthcare Center in Lithonia that opened earlier this year. The center
includes men's wellness and prevention services, and an adjoining AHF
Pharmacy. Services are provided regardless of ability to pay.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more
than 187,000 individuals in 27 countries worldwide in the US, Africa,
Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. To
learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.